Brabant’s Plant-Based, Nature-Inclusive and Hospitable Focus

This article was written for Uncover magazine – From Global to Ground (10th edition). You can read the full magazine here. 

Authors: Simon de Wijs is transition manager for SPRONG Hospitable Transitions in the Brabant region. Jeroen Klijs is Professor of Social Impact of Tourism. Frans Melissen is Transversal Professor of Sustainability Transitions. Nina Nesterova is Professor of Sustainable Development of Tourism and Transport.

Broad prosperity as a compass 
At SPRONG, we use the definition of broad prosperity as formulated by Statistics Netherlands (CBS) and PON/Telos. Broad prosperity is about everything people value: not only material prosperity, but also health, education, the environment, safety, social cohesion and personal development. Moreover, the concept focuses not only on the here and now, but also on effects and impacts elsewhere and for future generations. In this way, broad prosperity aligns with the international beyond GDP movement, in which the focus shifts from how much we earn to whether people are healthy, safe, connected and happy.

At the same time, the current broad prosperity approach also has a blind spot. The emphasis on indicators and monitoring often makes the perspective mainly about looking back and focused on limiting negative impact. But precisely where value arises in creating meaning, experience, encounter and imagination, the terrain of LTH, indicators fall short. Outside the broad prosperity dimension of ‘work and leisure’ (where indicators include, for example: does someone have paid work; is someone satisfied with the available leisure time), the LTH domain remains largely implicit in the common models, while its real impact on well-being, identity, social cohesion and sustainability is significant. This makes LTH ideally suited as a catalyst within sustainability transitions: not only by reducing the sector’s footprint, but also by actively strengthening broad prosperity.

Nodes in Brabant’s mosaic landscape 
With the broad prosperity perspective as the starting point, we explored where the most promising transition arenas lie in Brabant’s mosaic landscape. The exploration involved desk research and conversations with several dozen key figures. The focus is on identifying pioneers and front-runners in sustainability transitions, new connections between LTH and sustainability, and specific arenas that have potential in Brabant in particular to achieve acceleration.

The analysis revealed clear clusters: circular textiles and fashion around Tilburg; social and inclusive design in the Eindhoven region; festivals as temporary societies for experimenting with sustainable behaviour; a plant-based and bio-based movement in West Brabant; and nature-inclusive farmyards in the Van Gogh National Park. Two clusters stood out for this SPRONG: both have a recognisable regional profile, concrete pioneers and existing ecosystems, and in both cases LTH can play a crucial role. Below is an outline of the two prioritised transition arenas. 

1. Plant-based region West Brabant 
West Brabant is rapidly developing into a distinctly plant-based region. Built on a rich food history and a strong logistics tradition, a broad movement is growing here around both plant-based food and bio-based non-food applications. The regional ecosystem offers the infrastructure within which pioneers are shaping the plant-based future. Parties such as Regio West-Brabant, REWIN, the RegioDeal WestBrabants Welvaren and the Plant-based Network are active within this theme. The Delta Agrifood Business Campus in Bergen op Zoom and the Side Stream Innovation Campus in Oosterhout, among others, have already taken shape.

Pioneers are present in abundance. Monkeys by the Sea, for example, develops sustainable food products respecting ocean and land. PrinsenZwam grows oyster mushrooms on collected coffee grounds. And Rodenburg Biopolymers turns residual streams such as potato peelings into raw materials that replace fossil materials. In that respect, the plant-based transition does not remain abstract, but is already becoming tangible through the pioneers.

The link with LTH offers major opportunities, but is still used only to a limited extent. Front-runners such as Restaurant van Nu, the only restaurant in West Brabant awarded a green Michelin star, and FrankenFruit, where picking local fruit is combined with children’s parties and company outings, are already pointing in the right direction. Cultural venues are also taking part: Pop venue Poppodium Gebouw-T is experimenting with bio-based materials as a replacement for conventional plastic. Urban and regional developments strengthen this further: from the redevelopment of the site of the former CSM (Cosun) sugar factory ‘t Zoet in Breda and the designation of Breda as a National Park City, through to the Van Gogh Homeland events. A region is emerging where food, innovation and LTH come together and where the plant-based future is not only produced, but can also be experienced.

2. Nature-inclusive and hospitable farmyards 
Nature-inclusive and hospitable farmyards form a powerful intersection where nature, health, food, recreation, care, local chains and the labour market come together. In Brabant, a movement is growing in which agricultural entrepreneurs develop their farmyards into places of experiences, education and encounters, and connect their activities to sustainability transitions. 

This development is supported by a relatively strong regional regime and network, with parties such as Agrifood Capital, ZLTO, Van Gogh National Park and Brabant Partners, which uses the Goei Leven (Good Life) strategy to focus on quality of life, landscape and hospitality. Within this network, themes such as biodiversity, water, climate, soil and animal welfare are increasingly being related to regional identity, recreation and vitality.

Front-runners are already shaping this. Initiatives such as Vaderland, a gastronomic circular farm and place of experience, show how food production, landscape and hospitality come together around a shared vision of earth and community. Land van Kien is developing as a living landscape where living, working and leisure go hand in hand with nature. Organic farm ‘t Schop connects nature-inclusive agriculture with meadow dinners with chefs, an organic shop, business activities and its own festivals. In this way, the farmyard grows into a multifunctional place with meaning for a wide range of users.

Programmes such as the provincial Agenda Nature-Inclusive and the Van Gogh National Park Academy facilitate development, and concepts such as Wandelstarter (part of the MONA project) and Boerenpoorten strengthen visibility, accessibility and cohesion. The transition is not limited to individual farmyards. In the integrated area-based approach around Stadsbos013 on the edge of Tilburg, for example, which emerged as a collaboration between residents, entrepreneurs and government, Landgoed Sparrenhof, where culture and nature come together, is integrated with various estates, a regenerative Lenteland farm, food forests, a range of sports facilities and a network of walking and mountain-biking routes. In this way, Stadsbos013 grows not only food, but also involvement, biodiversity and future-proof agriculture. In places such as these, broad prosperity grows from an abstract ambition into something people can actually experience.

From analysis to action: two areas, two approaches 
Both areas call for their own approach. In the plant-based transition, the task lies in bringing two worlds together that still hardly meet: LTH and plant-based. At that interface, opportunities arise for new concepts, menus, events and experiments, and for developing a shared language around specific locations and programmes. At the farmyards, the connections between LTH and sustainability are already stronger; here the challenge shifts to bundling, strengthening and accelerating existing initiatives. By actively sharing successes and learning experiences, and removing obstacles such as regulations and zoning plans, this movement can be deepened and made transferable.

What this yields is visible in the landscape itself: a farmer who is also a host, a menu that tells the story of the season, and a farmyard that offers space for recreation, encounters and relaxation in nature. People are there together with one another and with the landscape, and experience playfully where food comes from. A hiker shares their path with flowering field margins, meadow birds and rows of trees, while a cultural festival lets people taste how plant-based choices can be not only good, but also attractive and connecting. Brabant as a province where sustainability is not imposed, but experienced. By residents, entrepreneurs and visitors together. In this way, both areas, each in its own way, act as drivers of broad prosperity.

Photography
Brabant Partners